Machines



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J EIN COLLINS, as, AND NIoIIIoLAs R. NIXON, or RICHMOND, INDIANA, ASSIGNORS TO N. NIXON, THOMAS NIXON, AND ALLAN .T. BENNETT.

Letters Patent No. 73,695, dated Jamtdry 28, 1868.

I I IMPROVEMENT .IN RAG-CUTTING MACHINES.

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: Be it known that we, J onN GOLLINs, Jr., and NICHOLAS R. NIXON, both'of Richmond, in the county of Wayne, and State of Indiana, have invented a certain new and useful Seaming and Rag-Cutting Machine; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being bad to the annexed drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a top view with the guard on.

Figure 2 is a sectional elevation through the line q q in fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional elevation through the line 7c 7: in fig. l.

I-Ieretofore the operation of seaming rags intended for shoddy or paper was slow and tedious, requiring much care andskill, the operation having to be performed by hand, with ordinary scissors, or by pulling the rags against a scythe-blade.

The object of our invention is to scam rags, whether to be manufactured into shoddy, or fine paper, or other'purpose, with less labor, less skill, and more rapidly than it was heretofore done.

To enable others skilled in the art ,to make and use our invention, we will proceed to describe its construction and operation with reference to the drawings. i

Similar letters of reference refer to similar parts of our machine in the diiferent drawings.

D D is the framework on which our machine is built. B B is the top of'the frame, and through which the cutters act, as seen in fig. 2. c c is the arbor running through the frame, and on which the cutters are attached. A A A is the guard placed over the cutters on the table. 72. n n are cutters or knives for cutting orseaming the rags. They are thin strips of steel, arranged as shown on the'arbor, or on a separate piece of metal fitted on to the arbor. The arbor runs through the framework about four inches from-the surface or table B B, and the cutters at an arc of such length that they extend above the tablc'three inches. The hole in the table through which the cutters act is just sufficiently large for the cutters to play through freely without touching the table, and no larger. The guard A A is of the shape shown in the drawings, fig. 2. Said guard is made of heavy tin or brass and its width is to be just sufficient for the cutters to not freely in, and no more, as shown at A, fig. 3. The space at a a, fig. 2, which is a few inches on either side of where the cutters pass the table in the operation of cutting or seaming the rags, and is to be of less height than the thickness of the operators smallest finger, but within that limit, may be large enough to permit any required number or thickness of rags to pass through, that is, between the table B B and its edges. The guard is to be fastened tothe table 13 B by bolts 01'' screws, as seen in fig. 1. The cutters may receive their motion from the pulley M, and. be worked by treadle, horse, or steam-power. The guardA A, when constructed as is herein shown and specified, is an absolute protection from the cutters 'n n to the fingers of the operator. 7

When the machine is in motion, the cutters moving towards a a, the operator places the rags to be scanned, of any desired thickness or number of layers, upon the table A A, but not of greater thickness than the space between the guard and the table at a a. The rags are then drawn against the cutters in the line in which he desires the rags to be cut or seamed, and,=as the'rags are drawn past the cutters, they will separate or seam I them, and the refuse maybe drawn off at the left side and the good rags at the right side, or the reverse.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

' The combination of the knives not merrangcd upon the shaft 0 with the guard-plate A, all constructed and operating substantially-as and for the purposes described. I

r JOHN COLLINS, JIL,

N. R. NIXON. I

Witnesses:

J. W. DAVIS, Janns Moons. 

